AHMA Executive Conference and Annual Membership Meeting

The American Hardware Manufacturers is holding an Executive Conference and Annual Meeting at the Navy Pier in Chicago on June 4th thru the 7th. My first reaction was, fantastic, I need to be a part of this event. I looked at the price tag and got sticker shock. Then I looked at the list of speakers and understood why the price was so high. The speakers list is full of big ticket speakers. Some names I recognized right away and others I had to do some digging.

Most all of us will recognized names like Bill Clinton, Colin Powell, Rudy Giuliani and Michael Porter. All important figures for our times, but none of them are Hardware Gurus with the possible exception of Colin Powell who I think worked in a hardware store as a kid.

The list of speakers continues with Malcolm Gladwell (author of Tipping Point and Blink), Michelle Peluso (Travelocity), Knichi Ohmae (globalization strategist), Dr. Liu Jiren (Software), Bruce Chizen (Adobe Exec.), Marcus Buckingham (Personal Development) and Dennis Nally (Price Waterhouse Exec.).

This looks like a cast of thousands and costs of hundreds of thousands, maybe even a million or more. These speakers individually charge tens to hundreds of thousands of dollars each. They are big picture people and will be talking in generalities.

It was after I looked all these people up that I began to question whether or not I really needed to be at this event. This will consume 4 days, it is going to be general and long term in nature and it will not do a thing to help my business in the short run. If I am a small business owner can I afford to take the time and spend the money on this? If I am a large business executive, what do I think that Clinton, Powell, Giuliani and others can do to help me with improving investor's returns?

I can't help but wonder how the industry is going to respond to this extravaganza?

Stanley Strikes Again

Home Channel News announced today that Stanley is selling Goldblatt to Finish Pro Tools. The article tells the age old tale of Stanley buys company. Stanley reduces skus. Stanley not happy with business and sells unit. Somebody buys unit and re establishes full product line.

Don't you wonder when they will learn from their own history?

Aggregation has been a factor in this industry for a long time. Sadly, the track record is not good. The idea is to create a market basket of products to take to market and provide one stop shopping for large wholesalers and retailers. What happens is that strong brands and broad product offerings get reduced in the process. What really happens is dilution. There is a dilution of focus, a dilution of the brand and consequently a dilution of customers. This opens the door to low cost offshore competition when no one is minding the product offering and the brand.

Think about it. What is happening to great brands like Lufkin, Plumb, Crescent, Vice Grip and others? It is almost impossible for an umbrella brand to provide the focus and the brand support for all the products in the basket. When that happens it is easy to see how no name or private branded products from offshore can make great inroads into the U.S. Hardware Market.

BusinessWeek online Depot Story

Wow! Incredible story dated March 6th at BusinessWeek online about Home Depot and Bob Nardeli's efforts to militarize the organization. This control freak is pushing for even greater control than previously. If you remember, it wasn't long after he took over that the power of the regional offices shifted to corporate in Atlanta.

My personal opinion is that this signals the beginning of the decline of Depot. It won't happen overnight. In fact I am certain that it will take a number of years to see the change in our rear view mirrors. No one ever stays on top forever and Depot had to come down someday. The truth is Home Depot grew and flourished on entrepreneurialism. As the company grew, it became increasingly difficult to control. Nardeli's need for control will eventually strangle the organization.